Monsters are among us...

I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads or tiny bodies. . . . And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a twisted gene or a malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul?

So I was going to do my little summaries like I always do but his quote, I don't know I just really really LOVE this quote.

The way Steinbeck introduces Cathy Ames, is both chilling and beautiful at the same time. He says that although she is a beautiful woman, her soul is tainted and ugly on the inside.

I do believe that people's souls can be born bad. That even someone with the greatest of beauty can harbor a deep secret on the inside. I think that what Cathy represents is something that we all have inside of us, but most of us choose to keep it down, hidden inside where other cannot see it. We are all capable of the things that Cathy thinks of and does, we just choose not to do them. Whether its because we have a conscience or we are good natured people, I still believe you and I are capable of doing them.

I'm certainly not saying that humans are all evil people who scheme and torture and behave like monsters. That's not the case at all, I just think that we are all capable of things we wish we weren't.

I do like Cathy because she seems like that sadistic character in novels and TV shows and movies that you just have to give props to for being so evil and hated. I think she is an interesting person...who knows maybe I just have a soft spot for evil characters.

Sometimes Evil is wrapped up in the prettiest of packages

All things may corrupt when minds are prone to evil.
Ovid (43 BC - 17 AD)

Cathy. As much as I want to despise all she is, I have a dark yearning to open her skull and spend time in her twisted mind. I am awed that Steinbeck created such a delightfully dark character. Charles, mind you, can also be seen as a monster, but he seems to struggle with his feelings a little too much. Cathy is cold and void of emotions or anything resembling humanity.

Perhaps I feel drawn to her character because I have ones that are similar or maybe she acts out what I think in the darkest depths of my mind. Scary thought. But unlike Cathy, I have yet to be marked. Maybe that means I am heading in the right direction: hope.

Beware of Monsters

So this time around in reading East of Eden, I noticed there is no middle ground for female characters in this book.  In the beginning we saw Mrs. Trask (she's not even important enough to know her first name) and Alice Trask who are super submissive.  They portray the silent and obedient housewife. 

Now we have Cathy who is a "mental" monster.  On the outside she looks pretty and innocent like a baby doll but inside she is cold and heartless.  She uses other people for her own gain and even resorts to killing her parents just to escape her hometown. 

I am fascinated by Cathy and how she plays into the Cain and Abel theme with the idea of being born a monster.  She and Charles recognized each others as monsters just by looking at each other.  They also both have scars on their foreheads marking them as such.  I really just love how Steinbeck connects Charles and Cathy into this theme of being born bad.  I think Cathy is obviously the extreme monster.  While Charles identifies with Cain, he still has emotions like love and hatred towards his father and brother.  Cathy seems to lack most emotions and feelings like fear she had to learn from experience.

Question to all: Do you think Cathy will change and maybe learn to love Adam?